Meet my new BFF: Padlet!

On November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 By KaraIn ECI8311 Comment

This week I was excited to find and review an application or tool that I had not previously used. I liked a lot of the tools that we talked about but realized that my entire experience with Padlet was to post my intro picture for #eci831 and #eci834 but that I had never truly spent time discovering what the tool was capable of. I was also inspired by my former classmate Megan from #eci834 who retweeted another’s use of Padlet on Twitter. So…here goes.

I created a Padlet on LGBTQ Resources for K-3 as a summary of our module on supporting diverse learners. #sogi123 https://t.co/PrcxwkRAHp

— Holly Broadland (@hollybroadland) November 25, 2017

Account

When signing up for Padlet there were a few different options: You can sign up for an account with your Google account, your Facebook account, or via email. I like this as I have enough different passwords and usernames to remember, linking this to my Google account is easy and I can (and have) created a Google account that I use primarily for my school-based work and bookmarks so this is very convenient. Add the self-esteem boosting mandatory “click this box” portion of signing up, and who could be upset???

Capture — Screenshot of signup page for Padlet (and a great pick-me-up!)

Dashboard

The dashboard is simple and easy to follow. I like that there is a space for Recent activity for if you are sharing your Padlet with others so that you can see any updates that have occurred. Overall, it is exactly what I would expect from such a page to help organize your different pages.

Create

This is where I feel Padlet really shines. They have generic blank templates that you can use and they also have more stylized templates to help you come up with ideas. I right away started with the stylized templates to see what Padlet is capable of. Their premade templates include a Moodboard, Bookmarks, Q&A, Kanban Board, KWL Chart, Video Playlist, Storyboard, Organization chart and a space to request a specific type of template. Each of these has a Preview option to help create ideas of how the tool can be used. After reviewing each and playing with the different styles, I decided to create my own Padlet.

I decided to follow the lines of the example above and create a grid-style Padlet. We are moving to a new unit in my Social 9 class right this week and I thought this may be a great way to collect some resources. I started by choosing a background and coming up with column headings. For now, I chose to be the only one who can edit the Padlet, given my intention of its use. Then I started to collect some (rather random) resources. As soon as I started to input information, I knew that I liked this tool.

Screenshot of my Egypt and Mesopotamia Padlet

I loved that you can provide links, you can watch videos right on the Padlet screen or move to the hosting website, you can drag and drop for reordering items on the board. The tool is very user-friendly and allows for a lot of personalization. I could easily see how I could plan activities and lessons on Padlet and share resources and links easily with my class. I invite you to check out my Padlet and play with the videos and see how easily you can navigate the board!

Strengths

In terms of strengths, I feel that Padlet is a great tool. In fact, I was very happily sharing it with my colleagues today after school and they were excited with how easy it was to use. The easy way to add (or subtract) items from the board, to move them around, and to share with others is great. If you were to collaborate with others, you can easily add to the board from Android and Apple apps on your phone or desktop versions including a Chrome extension and Chrome app. There are paid versions for relatively reasonable prices for educators and for businesses. “Backpack” (school) accounts allow for unlimited students under a teacher account.

The supports for schools are actually quite impressive: they integrate with Google apps and LMS, they have better privacy and security options, and they will even send you a hand-written love letter to thank you! They are also working on analytics and content filtering so it seems they are continuing to develop the platform.

Probably most impressive is their refund policy. I have never seen ANY refund policy that is as customer-centered as this one. You seriously need to check it out. They will do back-refunds and work with you to ensure you are happy if the tool does not meet your needs (or if you just stop using it)!

Weaknesses

There is a bit of restriction on the free account in the limit of 4 Padlets and the limit in options but, as it is quite affordable if you are going to use it regularly, I feel that this can be avoided. I guess you could also create multiple accounts but then you would need to remember multiple usernames and passwords and I am not good at that on the best of days…..

Given that a paid teacher account allows for unlimited students, teachers that team teach content or students may be able to collaborate on one account if they wanted or needed to save on costs to the school or teacher wallet, I could not find Terms of Service that said this was not allowed but I may not be correct on this.

Potential

This is something that I think I would use for planning primarily. I can see myself using it much as my demo board is set up, to help guide an inquiry-based unit or project, or to collaborate with other teachers to share resources and links. In talking about sharing in previous posts, I feel that I may have solved my dilemma of how to organize, share, and collaborate with others, I really like the visual but organized flow of this tool. This is a tool that I will be using in the future.

Another fun fact is that there is a plugin for Padlet on WordPress (if you host your own site) where you can embed a Padlet in your post, something that I find very interesting! Now, I think I may be fully convinced: I may just have to get my own domain! (I need to figure out how first though…. anyone know how to go about that?)

Have you ever used Padlet? If so, how did you like it? Would you use it again? If you have a moment to pay around with it, do you agree with my assessment of it? I would love to hear from you!

Alright students, now remix!

On November 7, 2017 By KaraIn ECI831Leave a comment

knowledge-sharing — By Ansonlobo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

This week, we looked at open education and the culture of sharing. I have always thought of myself as a teacher that would share my content and will eagerly share the resources that I use and create with others that are looking for ideas, support, or a place to start. I will even admit when what I have is awful but at least a starting point for content (cue that one year I taught Science 5 for 2 months at the beginning of my career…I do not recommend ANYONE using what I created then!).

I have played with putting my course material online, I made a few flipped lessons last year, and I believe in using the internet to help support our students in their learning but, I realized as I was watching the videos assigned to us this week that I was more-so paying lip service to the idea of sharing openly than actually actively working toward contributing to open education. I felt a little bit guilty of feeling like I was contributing when I was still very much secluded in my own little world.

Larry Lessig and his work on copyright and copyleft is something that I was aware of as I have previously taken a course from Alec, however, I was very intrigued by his idea that the internet is reviving creativity and the read-write culture. I resonated with his reference to how children and adolescents today are engaging in (re)creativity and how he is pushing for a change in how products are default licensed. To put this in a personal context, I would be a full supporter of copyleft, I encourage those I share my resources with to rework and adapt to their situation or to use “as-is”, whatever they choose. I encourage them to share with the next person down the line as well.

Oh, the possibilities that Ze Frank discussed in his TED talk, My Web Playroom! I think that when I decided to blog with my Social 9 class for my Learning Project, I was envisioning a final outcome that resembled some of the projects that he discusses but, after a few classes, I am not sure we will quite get there. (Maybe if I work with them on this until they graduate, we could make something really unique). The simple requests that he makes to the internet remind of the Post Secret project that was created by Frank Warren (maybe it has something to do with a common name…). Warren encouraged strangers to send him anonymous postcards and posts them on his website. He has published several books of secrets I have always been intrigued by Post Secret and see it fitting into Lessig’s definition of (re)creativity. The community around the project is very supportive (for the most part, darn trolls) and work together to decipher secrets that are submitted in other languages or in codes. I get the feeling of being a part of something bigger when I look at this project, connected to others around the world.

RIP: A Remixer’s Manifesto was a great watch, with some great music. In it, Brett Gaylor challenges the current definition and laws around copyright, gives a history of the intent of copyright and patents (which I was surprised to find out was created to encourage more production of ideas, not to monetize ideas), and there is even a hint that there the cure for many diseases may be just around the corner, but due to a patent, researchers’ hands are tied. He demonstrated that many songs by big musicians are already a remix of something they have heard elsewhere and that the songs his favourite artist, Girl Talk, creates are individual in their own rights.

So how does remixing play into our everyday lives as teachers? I think that Roberta summed it up in the most accurate manner: we ask our students to remix every day and we call it learning. Reading this caused me to pause and think about all of the assignments I give my students, and I couldn’t agree more. Teachers share information with students and, to ensure that their students comprehend, ask them to repeat, retell, and apply the knowledge to other situations. In fact, when looking at Bloom’s Taxonomy, the entire section labelled Synthesis could be renamed “Remix”.

This has left me with a lot to think about, much like Sapna, I like that online and open education supports learning as it tends to be accessible, affordable and flexible. I want to contribute but I need to stop just saying I am contributing and actually do something to help. Maybe that will be my next project….

Third Time’s the Charm

On October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 By KaraIn ECI831, Learning Project5 Comments

This past week I have been thinking about my learning project. I had asked Alec about creating an open-source textbook and how that would work into the project and spent some time mulling over how I would like it to work. The more I thought about it, the more I wasn’t so sure that it was what I wanted to do. Trash can for Idea #1.

I looked into different things I could learn. I asked my students, I asked my brother. Ideas of Spanish (we recently had three students who speak minimal English join our school, so it would be practical), sewing (similar to Shelby and Ashley, I love Hallowe’en and enjoy make elaborate costumes so sewing could be a handy skill), and my brother was excited to suggest coding (being the electrical engineer that he is) and even offered me his Arduino to learn and practice with . And yet with all of these great ideas, my heart was just not into any of them. Trash can for Idea #2.

AND THEN….our school became a little crazy. With newly added staffing of 0.5 FTE, new timetables for all grades 7-12 (and minor changes in PreK-6), and transitioning students to new teachers, my learning project took a rest in the back of my brain to simmer until the hectic was (mostly) over. After things had slowed down, I realized exactly what I wanted to do for my learning project, something I had wanted to do for a long time but had just never been able to get going properly: having my students blog as part of their course.

12239557556_196fb404c9_m_d — Photo Credit: MarcelaPalma Flickr via Compfight cc

So social media and open education implementation it is! It may sound like this was a last resort, but to be honest, the more I think about it, the more I have been getting excited about it. I have decided that I will implement blogging with my Social 9 class. I have already decided that I would allow my students more choice in the societies we study this year, developing units as inquiry and independent learning tasks with various supported activities. Using blogs for students to share their learning and interact with the public world, seemed like an easy and authentic fit for blogging! Last step before starting down the planning stages: clear with my administration, which was received very well (and with some personal anecdotes of their experiences).

And so we begin! I am still looking for what platform I will use, I want to play around with a couple before starting, the biggest annoyance for me when integrating something new is not liking the platform or program I choose and finding one WAY better suited to my needs a couple days after I have rolled it out. This may still happen but I want to try to eliminate the majority of the disappointment of missing out on a great platform. I like using WordPress for my personal blog but I’m not sure if that is the best option to use with my students, I know some use Edublogs but I don’t have personal experience using that platform.

Goals for my project:

Set up individual student blogs
Teach my students about blogging, integrating images and videos, and commenting on others’ posts
Create a unit plan that requires blogging about their progress through the unit as well as reflection questions and requirements around embedding videos, linking to websites, and sharing their sources they use.
Encourage students to use Twitter to interact with experts. I’m not sure if this will be done through their personal Twitter accounts or if I will use my account to tweet on their behalf. If you have suggestions around this, please share!
Encourage parent interaction with their child’s blog so they can see what is going on in class.

My Idealistic Product

I would love for my students to Skype or instant message an expert in the field they are studying, or maybe even just someone who has been to one of the sites they will study but I am not positive that I will be able to make this happen. I am definitely going to try but don’t want to set the bar so high I will never attain it! (On a side note, the first societies we will look at are Egypt and Mesopotamia, if you know or are an expert, lets chat!)

On my way

The plotting…. I mean planning… begins. I have a bit of time as we have just started a unit that I would like to finish before implementing this project but the learning about blogging will likely start sooner than our actual unit of study.

Have you used blogs in your classroom? Where did you host them? Do you have any suggestions or know of any “experts”? Let me know in the comments!

Time for Social Media!

On September 19, 2017 By KaraIn ECI8312 Comments

Another term, another course, and another dip into the vast world of educational technology. I am very excited for EC&I 831 as I have a love/hate relationship with Social Media. It intrigues me but at the same time, there are many days when I realize my Facebook addiction is a real issue and debate leaving my social media behind (and then I laugh at my weakness and find a quiz to determine what type of fairy wings I should have….)

For our first post, we have been asked to start thinking about our major project topic. We have two options for our project: (a) integration/development of social media or open educational resources into our teaching/school or (b) learn something new and share our progress online through social media, videos, and our blog.

In looking at these options, I am torn. I have been looking for a great way to integrate social media into my classroom and connect with my students in a manner that is unique and relevant to their daily lives and, after our discussions in EC&I 834 about open education sources, I have been thinking about how I can create courses that are more openly available. I also really like the idea of using this course to encourage me to learn something that I may be putting off as I have not have had enough motivation to start (or finish) on my own. Ideas that I can think of on the top of my head including learning how to sew better (I can do some very basic things) or maybe to gain an understanding of a new language so that I can better connect with some of my new students in their native languages (we have 3 new students this year who speak primarily Spanish).

6773216373_7e17e3afff_d — Photo Credit: Jeremy Brooks Flickr via Compfight cc

What option are you choosing? What direction are you thinking of heading?

If I go with the first option, would you like to like to see open educational resources based on Social 9 or a math course (I’m thinking maybe Precalculus 30 or Workplace and Apprenticeship 10)?

The end is here…

On July 23, 2017July 23, 2017 By KaraIn EADM820Leave a comment

Well, the last blog post for EADM 820. We have looked at ed tech from a global perspective and now to share some stories. The final blog post assignment is the following:

It’s time to end things on a positive note. We’ve provided you a longer-term look at a an edtech story (iPads in Los Angeles schools) that has a lot of lessons to be learned from what didn’t work. Now we want you to share some ed tech stories or products from around the world, specifically things that did work and that have lessons to learn about how to do things right. It could be about how a functionality of a technology works pedagogically. It could be a story about how someone somewhere implemented a technology. It could be about a leader who is inspiring others. It could be about making do with what you have and doing it well or intentionally not using technology and doing it well. Use the course blog to explore how one of these stories inspires you or interests you or leaves you with questions. Please make sure your post includes a link to the article/story/post.

I am choosing to share about Yay Math, a movement that I stumbled upon last year while looking for extra support videos for some of my grade 10 students to watch at home. For an idea of what Yay Math is about, check out his TEDx talk on math anxiety.

I completely understand what Robert Ahdoot (@yaymath) refers to when he states that people cringe when he shares that he teaches high school mathematics, I get it all the time. Robert Ahdoot decided that he was going to address these feelings towards mathematics and, in an effort to make math more fun, interactive, and engaging, he started recording his lessons, including the questions and interactions that he has with students in real time, and posting them online for anyone to view and learn from. They started simple, and now have some great costumes, characters, and graphics. He has over 126,000 followers on his Youtube channel and over 250 videos sharing various mathematics topics. Mr. Ahdoot has branched out to help others with a flipped classroom model, how to use his videos and other resources to create a blended classroom. He has also written a book, One-on-One 101, which addresses how to individualize instruction based on his experiences as a teacher and tutor.

It started with a simple idea: film the lesson while it is being taught. It has grown from there. His classes do not use a large amount of technology devices in the classroom but their lessons are available, 24/7, online for them to access and review. He uses as whiteboard and unique costumes to encourage the engagement of his students and has created a classroom environment of trust and desire to learn.

What made this approach successful? He started with the pedagogy. He started with “high quality content” and encouraged his students to have fun and contribute to the lesson. He broke down the walls of fear that often show up in the math classroom. He was quirky and not afraid to make the lesson funny in many different ways. This helps students relax and buy in to the lesson. They want to be in the classroom and they want to learn.

This is important when thinking about ed tech implementation and leadership. We have talked about this in our course: the pedagogy, GOOD pedagogy, must come first. In watching his lessons, you can see that his students are engaged and are participating, not afraid to make an error. This is a sign of good classroom management. It is clear his students are having fun and being successful in their learning. This is a sign of sound instructional design.

What do you think about the Yay Math movement? Do you feel that they have succeeded in integrating technologies into the classroom?

An example of one of Yay Math’s videos on statistics:

Kara Taylor's Blog

Tag: technology

Alright students, now remix!

The end is here…